Be you.

I was a cheerleader, blonde hair, blue eyes, small frame, style lover, daughter of a hairstylist, small town East Texas girl. I fit the stereotype so well, or so it seemed. I was such a happy child. I had a great family with all the love in the world, spiritual guidance, Jesus Christ, & a mom that I wanted to be just like. She is trendy, stylish, everyone loves her, she lights up every single room she enters & I wanted to be just like her. Until about 12 I was very shy. It was hard for me to talk to strangers, but I watched my mom move in & out of conversations so easily & soon picked up her mannerisms & her gift of gab. I started loving our weekend shopping trips to Dallas, all things Dooney & Burke, Guess, Pepe,  & Girbaud (I'm a 90's girl of course). I LOVED shopping with my mom & to this day if she says it looks fab, I buy it because she is a fashionista extraordinaire. Shopping, hair, jewelry, & style was our hobby. I knew what Louis Vuitton was early in life. I loved all things style.

As the teen years approached I started trying to "figure out" just who I am. On paper I was the blonde cheerleader who dated the star football player. I fit that stereotype. I was being typecast by my classmates & I fell right into it. But I was also smart, loved learning, & actually enjoyed all things abstract. I loved deep thinking, analyzing, debating...but that somehow got pushed out at some point. I felt like I had to choose. So by High School I was engrossed in the "scene". I knew where I fit in & played my role. Soon the stereotype fit like a tailored suit. But all along I felt like there were two sides to me. I was always super intrigued by the loners, the artists, the poets, I was drawn to them, as if in them I saw something familiar. But by then that side of me had been pushed down- after all I had a reputation to uphold. By graduation I had decided to go off to college in another state where I literally knew only a few people. That was my plan. I wanted to get away from what was expected of me & figure out who I was- on my own- with no influence. I found people that were like me- they were creative & forward thinkers without compromising their Christian beliefs or wearing black lipstick & a studded collar. It hit me, you can be more than what society tells you that you are. You are not defined by your circumstances or your past. Nor are you defined by other people's views of you or how they treat you. Your worth is found in what God says about you- and He says you are fearfully & wonderfully made. I realized that I'm more than outward appearance, I'm more than what I can put on paper, & now into my 30's I feel like I'm completely secure in the fact that I blur the lines of fitting stereotypes. What are stereotypes anyway except boundaries put on us by other humans- what do they know anyway? God made us the way we are because He likes us this way!  I'm creative, quirky, sensitive, I'm always thinking & analyzing things even if you think I'm mindlessly nodding & don't think past hairstyles & skinny jeans. I'm passionate, I love fashion, I love art, I love music, I love the unusual, I find beauty in people that are comfortable in their own skin, I find beauty in the unconventional, I love Jesus & my family. I am me. I am proud. You are you. Be proud too.